The prevalence of back
pain
Does back trouble keep you from playing your favorite
sport? Does it stop you from bending or swinging your
child into the air? Have you lost precious time from
work, spent money on medications or undergone surgery,
with little or no relief? Have you tirelessly
experimented with various therapies to alleviate your
back pain?

Back pain can be both frightening and debilitating. Its
prevalence is well-documented:

Research studies show
that 80% of Americans suffer from lower back pain
severe enoughto consult a health professional or use
drugs to relieve pain or reduce inflammation.

In 1988, lower back problems ranked seventh among
reasons for all U.S. hospitalizations.

Backache is the leading cause of worker absenteeism,
costing businesses $30 billion annually in lost time
and medical benefit

Addressing the cause, not
the symptom
Chronic back pain can be the result of inactivity,
injury, emotional stress, flawed body mechanics or
compressed posture. It is often treated with chiropractic
adjustments, massage, pain relievers, anti-inflammatory
drugs or surgery. Though each of these approaches can
have a valuable role in recuperation, the Alexander
Technique helps you perceive the cause of your back
problem, and gets to the heart of it by helping you
change your movement style.

If you slump when you sit, you are overworking some
muscles and underusing others. This muscular imbalance is
evidenced by a collapsed or rigid posture. If you
over-arch the back or bend at the waist rather than the
hip joint, you are unconsciously compressing spinal
vertebrae. Sitting for sustained periods is the most
challenging activity for the human spine, and it is how
many of us spend our days.

The Alexander Technique is a proven method of self care
that reduces pain, increases your mobility and provides
long term relief. It gives you an understanding of the
body's fundamental design and a way to move that will
help you feel better, on your own. You learn it from an
Alexander Technique practitioner, a highly-trained
professional who can lead you through a one-on-one
learning process tailored to your abilities and needs.
Your Alexander Technique teacher listens to your
symptoms, seeing them in the context of your entire
movement pattern. Through keen observation of the body's
dynamics in movement, s/he focuses on how you move as you
function.

How you can benefit from the Alexander Technique
You can then use the Alexander Technique to move safely
and sensibly. Rather than slumping, you can learn to sit
upright without strain. The Technique enables you to
reduce overuse of the body's surface muscles by engaging
the primary control: your body's central support system.
Walking, lifting, reaching, climbing stairs, getting out
of bed or into a car -- you learn to accomplish all these
routine activities, pain-free.

Since study of the Alexander Technique helps you increase
sensory awareness, you become more attuned to your body's
warning signs of tension and compression. You acquire the
capacity to lessen or prevent episodes of pain, enabling
you to decrease your dosage of painkillers or
anti-inflammatory medications. You demystify your back
problem -- you understand where it comes from and how to
change it.

The efficacy of such an approach to this common problem
is borne out by facts:

Eighty seven percent
of back problems are known to be muscular in origin
-- meaning they are related to how your move your
body.

A survey of back patients revealed that 75% of those
who were told they needed surgery recovered
successfully without it.

In a 1988 study by the British Holistic Medical
Association of those who suffer from chronic pain,
they expressed their preference for the Alexander
Technique as their favorite approach long-term pain
relief.

The Alexander Technique
combines well with other elements in a back rehabiliation
program. It can help you recuperate from surgery, derive
the maximum benefit from your fitness program, help you
improve how you do your physical therapy exercises. It
also can extend the benefits of osteopathy, chiropractic,
massage or acupuncture.

Most importantly, it puts into your hands the capacity to
relieve and prevent your back problems. Rather than
wondering why you're flat out on the couch after picking
up a newspaper, you move through your day with more
confidence, grace and ease.